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  • Essay / Anne Bradstreet: a rebel, full of resentment towards her gender

    Is Anne Bradstreet a rebel, full of resentment towards her gender? This is possible, but it should be noted that Anne Bradstreet was exploring concepts and ideas in a Puritan context. A misunderstanding of Puritan ideas and values ​​can also lead to a misunderstanding of Bradstreet's intentions in his writings. Its poetic nature can make it difficult to come to a clear conclusion on this issue. Throughout this critical analysis, elements of her poems and other literary works will be considered and analyzed to answer the question of whether Anne Bradstreet was indeed angered by her gender. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay New England Puritan Anne Bradstreet is important among the generation of women in literature. Bradstreet's written poetry was published in The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America in 1650, and after his death poems and papers were printed. Historians remain effectively silent on her voice and that of women on both sides of the Atlantic, largely appropriating Bradstreet's "state of mind." English Puritanism was a literate movement. It attracted readers and writers of all types from its origins among academic reformers, and while its main supporters and opponents fought each other through law, literature was often their preferred tool. Writers from Puritan communities were active in many ways. Anne Bradstreet wrote in 1642: "A dialogue between old and new England" about their current troubles, "in which she exalted the leaders of the Puritan Parliament and encouraged piety as a solution to bloodshed." In her 1999 monograph, Women through Early American Religion 1600-1850, Marilyn Westerkamp answers part of the question posed above. She states: “Women were praised for their submissiveness and spiritual role.” (Westerkamp). She argues that Puritanism granted dignity and spiritual status to women as wives and mothers in their communities. She recognizes Bradstreet's active voice but in her later verse indicates an unconscious revolt. Acknowledging this, calling Bradstreet's perspective here "feminist" would be a misunderstanding. Her works show a strong devotion to Puritan religion and culture, and she is identified with historical, theological, and Elizabethan authorship. However, for this cause, her point of view on gender issues may be more significant: she is a strong feminist author, energized by her puritanical heritage which contrasts sharply with 21st century constructions. Puritanism, from Bradstreet's perspective, presents its narrative with perfectly legitimate meaning. Bradstreet also wrote extensively on the faith, like most Puritan authors. But what sets her apart (besides being a feminist) is the way she talks about the role of women in society. While her discussion of gender roles in her prose could be interpreted as a simple expression of the realities of the world in which she worked, without any feminist agenda. Nonetheless, her poem “In Memory of the High and Powerful Goddess, Queen Elizabeth” reinforces Bradstreet as a woman. In this poem, Bradstreet praises Queen Elizabeth to the highest degree. As monarch, she reviews her accomplishments, thus reminding herself that she was an extremely successful dictator. Throughout one stanza, she states, “There can be no thoughts, no numbers. The nine Olympic Games of his happy reign, which was sogentle, so fair, so intelligent, so wise, she won the prize of all the kings of the Earth. » Literally, she claims that Queen Elizabeth is taller than any male monarch. This work reflects a patriarchal environment. Not only does he recognize and respect another woman who defied gender roles, as she did (Queen Elizabeth as a monarch and Bradstreet as a published writer), but he suggests that this revolt is will continue with traditional gender roles. She argues that Queen Elizabeth was simply a feminist hero who changed the way the world viewed women, and that she printed this notion for the world to see in a time so close to gender issues. In the perspective of "To My Dear and Loving Husband", this highlights another aspect of Anne Bradstreet's views on gender roles, as they relate to marriage. She begins the poem with a proclamation: “If ever two were one, then surely we.” This shows her deep love for her husband by saying that if two people in the marital past had ever been bonded as if they were one entity, then she and her husband would definitely be bonded in this deep and intimate way. In the second line, Bradstreet reassures her husband of her own love and commitment to him by stating that she loves him far more than any woman who ever loved a man. This is a splendid statement, because there are an infinity of lovers in the world. In the third and fourth lines, she reassures her husband that she wants to be with him. She compares herself to other women and exclaims that she herself is the happiest of all girls because she is married to him. In the fifth and sixth verses, she declares to her husband that his love is more to her than any amount of money. She says she appreciates his love even more than "all the riches that the Orient has." This indicates that she values ​​the human feeling of affection in relationship and devotion to another man or woman far more than she should ever experience material wealth. In the seventh line she shows that although she is happiest, she does not consider herself absolutely satisfied, because the nature of her love for him is such that she feels she can never have enough. That's why she says. “My love is such that rivers cannot quench it.” She ends To my dear and loving husband by affirming that they can persevere in love until the end. Bradstreet has no doubt that she and her husband will live married and in love until one of them passes from this life to the next. This is what she discovers when she says: “So as long as we live, in love, let us persevere.” Apparently, she did not personally feel the oppression that many women must have felt in her time. This poem particularly shows that as Anne appears to be in a loving and true marriage in which her husband no longer oppressed her, but loved and esteemed her. This poem also explores the gendered idea that it is perfectly okay to have puritanical views on such perspectives while still remaining a good wife. The role of the wife is to love her husband and this should in no way be looked down upon. This can be misinterpreted as you need to be submissive to your husband and be there only to love him and nothing more, but Bradstreet's point is that you can be a strong and loving woman at the same time. Keep in mind: This is just a sample.Get a custom paper from our expert writers now.Get a custom essayAlthough there aren't many "major" women writers in American literature and that writing,.